The present invention relates to a device for cleaning die plates, particularly drawing dies. During the pressing of sheet materials, foreign bodies are deposited on the dies and, although they appear insignificant, these damage the surfaces of the pressed objects and thus necessitate the provision of remedial and finishing operations This type of surface defect, which is displayed only on pressed materials, is usually known by the term "pitting". In many cases, if the foreign bodies are particularly hard, they may even penetrate the surfaces of the dies, causing considerable damage.
Currently die plates are cleaned manually with the use of cloths soaked in detergents and by mechanical operations. This has the disadvantage that the press in which the dies are mounted must be stopped for quite long periods and cleaning is therefore carried out only when the defects which appear on the surfaces of the pressed objects are particularly obvious. Moreover, since operators are required to work directly on the inside of the die plates, there is a high risk of accidents.